Fig. 3

Gas exchange measurements and anatomical features of leaves of bypass transgenics. a A/C _i curves were generated at saturating light (1500 PAR) using the youngest fully expanded leaf. The A/C _i curves were used to calculate V _cmax (maximum rate of RuBiSCO-mediated carboxylation) (c) and J _max (maximum rate of electron transport) (d) in transgenic and WT leaves. b Apparent rate of CO₂ fixation rate (A-value µmol/m²/s) of representative plants from two independent DEF2, DEF2+TG1 and WT lines was measured using LI6400-XT at chamber light levels(~440 PAR). On average, DEF2 transgenics had 20–26 % and DEF2+TG1 plants had 15–28 % increase in photosynthesis over WT plants (n = 4, p < 0.05; error bars standard error). e The leaves on transgenic plants were larger than WT. The twelfth leaf of 7-week-old plants was harvested and approximate leaf area was compared. On average, DEF2 transgenics had about 50 % and DEF2+TG1 plants had about 75 % increase in leaf area over WT plants (n = 4, p < 0.05). f The leaf 12 from representative plants was cleared, and the cross-section was examined for cell distribution. The palisade mesophyll cells and the intercellular spaces were larger the leaves of the bypass leaves (scale bar 0.5 mm)